The Alamance-Burlington School System is working toward 180-day — rather than 185-day — student calendars for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years following a change in state law.

Initially, the Alamance-Burlington system and others had requested and received waivers after the General Assembly put in place a requirement to increase the school year from 180 to 185 days.

A change in the law, however, allows systems to opt for a minimum of either 185 days or 1,025 hours of instruction, instead of requiring both.

Steve Achey, the school system’s director of accountability, research and evaluation, said feedback was in favor of the 180-day year. That was mostly from teachers, he said, although “a handful of parent responses” were in agreement. The system exceeds the hourly requirement without making changes, according to previous discussion of the issue.

School board members and administrators have said they would, in theory, support additional days for students. Concerns include cutting into training time for teachers, additional costs such as transporting students and having them in school for five more days, and fitting an additional five days for students into an academic year the state requires to begin and end at certain times.

Another change gives school systems in North Carolina a small amount of flexibility in that area. Previously, systems were required to start the year no earlier than Aug. 25 and end no later than June 10, though some, such as neighboring GuilfordCounty, have gotten around the law by making up days missed due to bad weather after June 10.

The change says school systems can begin the student year “no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26” and end “no later than the Friday closest to June 11.”

This year, Aug. 26 is a Monday, making that the first potential day of the school year. In 2014, June 11 is a Wednesday, making Friday, June 13 the last day on which the school year can end.

Achey observed the change gives the system “a tiny bit of flexibility.”